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Santa Cruz VOTERLEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF SANTA CRUZ COUNTYMarch 2014In this IssueHelping the Homeless -----------------------1President’s Message--------------------------2Membership Report---------------------------2April onal Women’s Day-----------------3Tracks and Trails -----------------------------3Sanctuary Trail Funding History------------3CalendarSaturday, March 8, 2014, Noon--3 P.M.International Women’s DayLouden Nelson Community Center301 Center Street, Santa CruzTuesday, March 11, 2014, 1--3 P.M.LWVSCC Board MeetingSanta Cruz County Bank720 Front Street, Santa CruzWednesday, March 12, 2014, 12--2 P.M.Helping the HomelessBring your own lunchCommunity Foundation of Santa Cruz County7807 Soquel Drive, AptosTuesday, April 8, 2014, 1--3 P.M.LWVSCC Board MeetingSanta Cruz County Bank720 Front Street, Santa CruzWednesday, April 30, 2014, 12--2 P.M.Prospects for Soquel Creek Water DistrictSpeaker: Kim Adamson, SCWD General ManagerBring your own lunchCommunity Foundation of Santa Cruz County7807 Soquel Drive, AptosTuesday, May 6, 2014, 11:00 A.M.--1:00 P.M.Voters Service Training Workshop with LWVCManagement Training Advisor Jackie JacobbergerDetails to be announcedCommunity Foundation of Santa Cruz County7807 Soquel Drive, AptosSunday, June 1, 2014, 12:30—2:30 P.M.LWVSCC Annual MeetingCommunity Foundation of Santa Cruz County7807 Soquel Drive, AptosVolume 48, Number 5Helping the Homelessfeatured speakerMonica MartinezExecutive Directorof the Santa CruzHomeless Services CenterWednesdayMarch 12, 2014Noon to 2 P.M.Community Foundation of Santa Cruz Countyat the Jack & Peggy Baskin Center for Philanthropy7807 Soquel Drive, AptosFree and open to League members and the public.No reservations necessaryBring your own bag lunch. Water and cookies provided.At LWVSCC’s March meeting, Monica Martinez, executivedirector of the Santa Cruz Homeless Services Center (HSC), willdiscuss the many services provided by the HSC and the local180/180 initiative. Since becoming director of the HSC in 2010,Ms. Martinez has focused on community partnerships andinnovative solutions to bring a renewed respect to the homelessissue.Established in 1986, the HSC provides emergency and transitionalservices to homeless individuals and families that will enable themto achieve self-sufficiency. The largest agency providing services tothe homeless in Santa Cruz County, the HSC provides a pathway tohousing for hundreds of men, women, and children each year.The 180/180 initiative is a multi-agency effort to permanentlyhouse 180 of Santa Cruz County’s most vulnerable, chronically illhomeless by July, 2014. So far this innovative program has helpedover 140 formerly homeless clients.Bring your questions about homelessness and your lunch to theCommunity Foundation of Santa Cruz County at the Jack & PeggyBaskin Center for Philanthropy, 7807 Soquel Drive, Aptos, at noonon Wednesday, March 12. The League will furnish water andcookies. This meeting is free and open to the public; to reserve yourplace, call 831-426-8683 or e-mail league@lwvscc.org.
Membership ReportPresident’s MessageWelcome to new member, Karen Smith, whojoined our Santa Cruz County League ofWomen Voters at the recent February 9event. Karen began her association with thelocal League by helping her friend, currentLeague president Peggy Marketello, set upthe luncheons. Karen's main concern ismaking sure that obstructions to voting forindividuals are eliminated. League programsshe attended include health care and thelibraries. A former elementary schoolteacher, Karen moved from Pittsburgh, PAto Santa Cruz in 1976 when she married aCalifornian. After her husband died, Karensought outside interests, which now includeFun with Fitness exercise classes, traintravel in the west and New England, andsinging with a local choir.Hello Fellow Members,—Barbara LewisMembership Vice PresidentApril Meeting:Mark your calendarOn Wednesday, April 30, from noon to 2P.M., Kim Adamson, General Manager ofthe Soquel Creek Water District will presentan analysis of the prospects for the waterdistrict at the Community Foundation inAptos. This will be a “bring-your-own-lunch”meeting.International Women’s DayCelebrated in Santa CruzThe United Nations Association of the USASanta Cruz Chapter celebrates InternationalWomen’s Day on Saturday, March 8, 2014from noon to 3 P.M. at Louden NelsonCenter, 301 Center Street in Santa Cruz,with their annual soup kitchen and silentauction. A special program, "Women inLeadership for a Peaceful World" by MarieKagaju Laugharn of the Santa CruzWomen’s Commission begins at 1 P.M. TheInternational Soup Kitchen will be open allday; 7 buys you all the soup and bread youwant, students 3.00. For more informationcall: 426-3101.March 2014I am pleased to report that our annual fundraiser at the ScottsValley Hilton luncheon was successful with a great team effort yourboard and members made in planning, setting up, and managingthe event. Once again, many donations from members came in withmultiple items from Joyce Anderson, Sue Becker, Pam Newbury,and me. Our Voter Editor Pam Newbury won a generous donationfrom Elizabeth and Marq Lipton for a ride on the Chardonnay. Wehad a good time and learned new information from GeorgeDondero and Cory Caletti on the proposed Rail and Scenic Trails.(see article on page 3). We thank the Hilton for their comfortableaccommodations, good services and luncheon for this third year.The number of important issues withthe call for advocacy is just mindboggling, but I would like to callyour attention to two issues inparticular, voting rights andeconomic inequality.The Voting Rights Act has hadmany challenges to weaken its basicpremise of securing voting rights forall. It appears there are some stillmaintaining dated views of voting asa right of the propertied, the rich,and the privileged, and even abillionaire suggesting the rich shouldhave more than one vote. Imagine what could be next as activeminds look for partisan advantages in directing voters to theircauses. A few of the voter suppression challenges include requiringphoto ID’s, placing restrictions on early and late voting hours, andeliminating preregistrations for 16 and 17 year olds and same dayregistrations.LWVUS staff member Gretchen Knell has written an in-depthhistory of the League’s work on our basic principle--the citizen’sright to vote. Her article is long, but worth reading and keeping as asummarizing reference.There is much talk and debate about economic inequalities in ourcountry today, and I am adding a few words to the mix here. A“livable wage” that supports affordable housing, medical care,daycare and education for families does not come from low payingjobs, largely filled by women. It is the scarcity of jobs with livableincomes, and support for jobs of self-employment that needs to beseriously addressed in my estimation in order to have any economicstability or effect on our growing poverty levels in our country.—Continued on Page 5League of Women Voters of Santa Cruz County, CaliforniaPage 2
Santa Cruz Tracks and TrailsAt our February meeting Executive Director George Dondero and Senior Transportation Planner CoryCaletti of the Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) informed League members about the RTC andplans for transportation in Santa Cruz County.The Regional Transportation Commission promotes long term sustainable multimodal transportation toserve all members of our community. Recently their mission has been expanded beyond planning toinclude project management. Their first management experience was the recently-completed expansionof Highway 1 between Morrissey and Soquel.The commission has recently released a draft of the 2014 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) which setsgoals, targets, and policies that will be used to prioritize projects for funding. The draft RTP is available forreview and public comment until April 8, 2014. The RTP creates a foundation for expanding transportationoptions in a way that promotes safety, improves equity, is cost-effective, protects the environment,embeds sustainability, and promotes investment in the local economy, resulting in a transportation systemthat serves our diverse travel needs. The plan endeavors to implement policies that support desiredoutcomes rather than specific projects or modes, focusing future investments on the best-performingstrategies that are broad enough to adapt to change and take advantage of new opportunities.Mr. Dondero discussed the rail service from Santa Cruz to San Jose that ran until 1940 when a stormwashed out the tracks. The tracks were taken out and tunnels dynamited. In the 1990s they studied thefeasibility of rebuilding the line, but today’s environmental laws would make that impossible. The onlyremainder is the Roaring Camp and Big Trees line,which continues today as an excursion line only.In the 50s and 60s, passenger rail travel declined andwas taken over by the federal government, whichcreated Amtrack. In the 90s some regional service wasbrought back, including the capital corridor from SanJose to Sacramento to Auburn, the Altamont CommuterExpress, and the LA to Seattle line. The focus is onquality and running on time. Connection to those linesmight eventually occur through the southern end of theSanta Cruz branch railway.With the Santa Cruz Branch Line now in publicownership, the RTC is evaluating future uses. The lineruns 32 miles from Davenport to Watsonville. The railcorridor passes through many major activity centers inWatsonville, Aptos, Capitola, and Santa Cruz, andpasses close to key features including parks,recreational facilities, and schools.On the line through Santa Cruz, detailed planning workis being done on plans for repair of thirty-eight structuresalong the line, working on the most serious problemsfirst. They also plan to upgrade the track to passengergrade. Right now it is rated for freight at 10 mph with onlyportions upgraded for passenger travel.March 2014Regional Rail Network Surrounding Santa Cruz CountySource: Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation CommissionLeague of Women Voters of Santa Cruz County, CaliforniaPage 3
The RTC selected Iowa Pacific Holdings to operate freight and passenger service on the Santa Cruz lineunder the name Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay Railway. The RTC will be responsible for capital repairswhile Iowa Pacific takes responsibility for operation and maintenance.Types of freight hauled on the rail line currently include construction materials, agricultural products, andraw materials for biofuel production at the new biofuel plant in Watsonville. Passenger service consistsmainly of excursion trains during the holidays.Santa CruzBranch RailLineSource: SantaCruz CountyRegionalTransportationCommissionAs Senior Transportation Planner, Cori Caletti’s mission is to bringinto being the Monterey Bay Sanctuary Scenic Trail, a bicycle andpedestrian path arcing the Monterey Bay with key destinations andcoastal access throughout the 50-mile trail to highlight the marinesanctuary. The goal is to provide bike/pedestrian facilities separatefrom motor vehicles, but use the railroad line as a continuous spineto weave the system together for the 32 miles the trail will follow thetrack and make key connections that tie into the California coastaltrail. The trail will expand non-motorized transportation options andprovide a robust system wide enough for safe use by multipleusers traveling at different speeds in different modes, fromfamilies with kids in strollers to bird watchers to bicyclists. Theymust consider topographical issues and a variety of mobility ranges.Example Schematic of Monterey BaySanctuary Scenic Trail along the Rail LineSource: Monterey Bay Sanctuary Scenic TrailNetwork Master Plan, 2013.SCCRTCThe master plan for the project was certified in November of 2013 to provide a context of what to achieveand to prioritize needs and costs. Development must take place in the framework of public right of way,maintaining agricultural operations, private property ownership, community engagement, stakeholdermeetings, the Coastal Conservation Commission, and neighborhood groups. Constraints include criticalgaps, areas of high activity, fencing, bridges, and crossings. They are looking at where they can useexisting bridges and where they need to build separate bridges. In all but two instances they need to buildnew multi-use bridges separate from the rail bridges.The project has been broken down into 20 segments, with each having a specific utility. It may take two tothree decades to complete gaps in the trail. Estimated cost to complete the fifty-mile project is 127million. Funding for three of the segments, totaling 5.3 million, was allocated in December: NaturalBridges to Pacific Avenue by the Municipal Wharf, from Fifth to Seventh Avenues along East Cliff Drive inSanta Cruz, and in Watsonville at Lee Road. Funding for the balance of the project will be from a varietyof public and private sources.—Pam Newbury, VOTER EditorMarch 2014League of Women Voters of Santa Cruz County, CaliforniaPage 4
Membership in the League of WomenVoters is open to men and women ofvoting age who are U.S. citizens. Othersare welcome to join the League asassociate members.Send your check payable to League ofWomen Voters of Santa Cruz County orLWVSCC with this form to LWVSCC, Box1745, Capitola, CA 95010-1745. 65 Individual annual membership 100.00 Two members in ahousehold 30.00 Student membershipContribution Checks made out to LWVSCC are not taxdeductible.To make a tax-deductible donation,write a separate check to LWVEducation Fund.A Brief History of Funds Intended for aSanctuary Scenic TrailIn 1993, a year after the designation of the Monterey Bay NationalMarine Sanctuary, a large group of people came together under theleadership of Supervisor Gary Patton as a Santa Cruz County TaskForce to promote the Sanctuary and find strategies to enhanceeconomic and educational opportunities in Santa Cruz County. TheSanctuary’s headquarters, a division of the federal agency, NOAA(National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), is inMonterey. We were successful in establishing a Sanctuary office inSanta Cruz and the wonderful Sanctuary Interpretive Center nearthe Santa Cruz Wharf. We published and distributed aneducational brochure, “50 Ways To Get Your Feet Wet In TheSanctuary”, and established the Sanctuary Scenic Trail along thecoast. We installed interpretive signs along the Trail, and plannedfor an extensive educational/interpretive program.Congressman Sam Farr became excited about establishing a trailalong the entire Santa Cruz and Monterey County coastline, and heand the national Sanctuary program were able to secure federalfunds which were split between the two counties. The funds wereheld by AMBAG (the Association of Monterey Bay AssociationGovernments), and later transferred to the Regional TransportationCommission. The RTC was busy trying to buy the rail line andestablish a rail trail, and no planning was continued along the coastfor many years.The Sanctuary Scenic Trail was combined with the rail trailplanning, and the money is now allocated primarily for the rail trail.The Task Force is now going to work with the RTC to continue topromote the coastal aspect of the Trail, and complete the originalvision: a trail along the coast for all to enjoy, whether driving,walking, riding a bicycle, skateboard, or using a wheelchair. We donot want all the years of planning to be for naught.City State ZIP—Stephanie Harlan, Capitola City Councilmember; Chair Santa CruzTelephone:Interagency Task Force, Monterey Bay National Marine SanctuaryEmail--President’s Message, Continued from Page 3NameAddressLeague of Women Votersof Santa Cruz CountyPO Box 1745, Capitola, CA 95010(831)426-VOTE(8683)Editor: Pam NewburyPresident: Peggy MarketelloMembership: Barbara Lewisleague@lwvscc.org http://lwvscc.orgThe League of Women Voters, a nonpartisanpolitical organization, encourages informedand active participation in government, worksto increase understanding of major publicpolicy issues, and influences public policythrough education and advocacy.There are many ways in which jobs can be generated to improveand protect our environment and infrastructure. Some localLeagues have identified economic inequality as a top priority, butare also finding its study to be gigantic in scope for small Leagues tohandle on their own. We are in that group looking to combine oursupport and labor with other Leagues towards the focus oneconomic fairness for all. We will keep you posted on our efforts.In the meantime, please be aware of what is happening with someof our other issues, such as immigration, water supply, health andsafety, fracking, carbon emissions, human trafficking, presidentialdebates, and campaign disclosures; remain as proactive as ever tothe basic principles and objectives of the League.—Peggy Walker Marketello, PresidentMarch 2014League of Women Voters of Santa Cruz County, CaliforniaPage 5
to achieve self-sufficiency. The largest agency providing services to the homeless in Santa Cruz County, the HSC provides a pathway to housing for hundreds of men, women, and children each year. The 180/180 initiative is a multi-agency effort to permanently house 180 of Santa Cruz County's most vulnerable, chronically ill homeless by July, 2014.
